Gina Mertikas was 34 years old and a mother of three, including a one-year-old, when she felt a hardness in her breast that just never went away.

“I thought it was a breast-feeding issue,” she said.

Mertikas is not in the breast cancer demographic. She is young and has no family history of breast cancer, but the idea was always in the back of her mind. She was diagnosed in March 2017, setting off a round of procedures and treatments at different locations.

“I was going to the Civic, then the General for chemotherapy, then back to the Civic,” she said. “Everything was old. The rooms were very small. You had to manoeuvre your way around. It’s so much better here.”

“Here” is the new Rose Ages Breast Health Centre at the General campus of The Ottawa Hospital. The centre was built with $14 million raised in the community and designed to be a “one-stop shop” for women — and the occasional man — with breast cancer and other breast concerns, to omit the stress of having to go from place to place.

The new centre is about triple the size of the old space, which opened in 1997. In the past two decades, the number of patients has increased by 40 per cent, the result of a growing and aging population. Meanwhile, the number of imaging and other procedures, including biopsies, has also increased by 175 per cent.

The centre has eight surgeons, eight imaging specialists and two family physicians who specialize in benign breast disease, such as cysts. There are three mammography units equipped with tomosynthesis 3D imaging, often called “3D mammography,” which offers a series of cross-sections of the breast tissue. 3D images are more accurate and result in fewer unnecessary tests and biopsies.

The centre also has three separate waiting rooms, including one for patients already in medical gowns.

“People love it. It’s a safe environment,” said Dr. Jean Seely, head of breast imaging in the department of medical imaging at the hospital. “One of the patients burst into tears. She was so moved by the fact that there’s a gowned waiting room.”

There are also consultation rooms large enough to fit entire families. “Often, patients have four or five family members with them,” said breast surgical oncologist Dr. Erin Cordeiro.

“This is going to be very good for families,” said Mertikas.

The spaces make it possible to see more patients and trim wait times. For physicians and other practitioners on this multi-disciplinary team, simply being close to other experts can help to streamline the process. An estimated 15,000 patients will receive diagnostic mammograms and ultrasounds at the centre next year, and physicians will see 1,000 new cases of breast cancer.

The centre is also on the leading edge. The Ottawa Hospital was the third hospital in Canada to have a radioactive seed program, and it remains a leader in the area.

For the past 20 years, when a woman had a breast cancer tumour that was too small to feel or be seen in surgery, a wire called a “harpoon” would be installed into her breast to guide the surgeon to the spot. The wires were uncomfortable and disconcerting — and sometimes a wire would be accidentally moved, creating an element of guesswork for the surgeon.

The pinhead-sized seeds, however, contain a radioactive isotope, which is used as a “marker” to pinpoint the tumour for the surgeon. The seed is removed at the same time as the tumour. The seed can be implanted a week or more before surgery using a large-gauge needle under general anesthetic. The patient can arrive the day of the surgery and be ready. They are painless, safe — the radiation level is too low to cause any harm — and they have reduced stress and wait times.

One in eight Canadian women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime, according to the Canadian Cancer Society, and one in 31 will die of it. About 80 per cent of breast cancers are diagnosed with no family history.